The Dodge Ram is moving to a new ad agency.
Chrysler Accounts Leaving BBDO in Detroit
In recent weeks Chrysler has been decimating BBDO ‘s Detroit — actually Troy – office. The Jeep account has gone to Global Hue in Southfield, MI, which had been the specialty minority agency for Jeep, and is now operating as a full-service general audience shop.
This week the Richards Group of Dallas was selected as the agency of record for the Dodge Ram Brand. Other brands awaiting the anointing, er appointment, of a new agency includes the Chrysler 300, Town & Country minivan and other Dodge marquees.
Get Great Agency Info from Halliday’s Ad Agency Article
Jean Halliday, Advertising Age Bureau Chief in Detroit has penned a very interesting article on the top 15 auto ad accounts advertising agencies. New biz personnel at the not-mentioned-shops and job seekers will find the info broken down into various categories: Sex Appeal, Annual Spending, Management Stability/Client Difficulty, What You Should Know and Agency Churn. Best coverage I’ve ever seen. Just click here to see what I mean.
Audi Appoints Relationship Marketing Agency
The ad biz seems to be going the way of healthcare. GPs, general practitioners, in both professions are an endangered species being replaced by specialist boutiques. For example orthopedic surgeons now are body part specialists to the extreme. There are knee docs for replacements, arthroscopic surgery and ACL repairs. Not one for all, one per specialty in the same office.
General service agencies have been spinning off separate divisions staffed for specific skills, media and practices for some time. I’m not sure if it’s what their clients are demanding or the BHC (big holding corporations) desire to extract every buck possible.
That’s why I was not shocked upon reading an Audi release that noted “Audi has engaged RTC Relationship Marketing of Washington, D.C., to serve as its customer relationship marketing agency of record.”
The new agency will develop enhanced owner communications, programs to increase loyalty and efforts to attract new customers to the Audi brand as well as building its profile in the Washington, D.C. market. Audi moved to the burbs of DC in the summer of 2008.
One initiative recently announced was a program with the Washington Redskins, the NFL team the hapless Detroit Lions beat last weekend. Sounds like something the new shop would do, doesn’t it?
This Isn’t A Real Car … It’s A Car Mouse!
Of mouse and men...you can drive this Ford GT on your computer's mouse pad.
One automotive company growing at rapid rate is Four Door Media, Inc., the designer and manufacturer of “Road Mice™”, the name for a new group of licensed auto replicas that work as computer mice, er mouse – meece? Less than a year old, the company is on its fourth move to larger quarters I was told.
The sleek car mouse designs feature the look of a replica automobile and the functionality of high quality pointing devices on the market featuring 800-dpi resolution for enhanced accuracy and precision, functioning headlights, smooth lines and rich coloring.
Current and upcoming Road Mice(TM) makes and models include:
- Ford Mustang GT and Ford GT
- Chevrolet Camaro Concept, Corvette Z06(TM)
- Dodge Challenger SRT8, Charger SRT8 and SRT8 Super Bee, and Viper
- SRT10
- Lamborghini Murcielago and Reventon
- Chrysler HEMI 300C and PT Cruiser.
In the works are Jaguar, Nissan and Shelby Road Mice
All models are PC and Mac compatible and are suitable for both desktops and laptops. These cool looking devices come in wireless and cord models and are available at: www.roadmice.com, www.carmouse.com, Fry’s Electronics, www.amazon.com and www.bestbuy.com, with suggested retail prices ranging from $34.95 to $54.95, which includes a one year limited warranty.
Each car features an individual (VIN) serial number, so new owners can visit the Road Mice(TM) Title and Registration page to register and activate their product warranty and receive their unique title, free of charge. Clever marketing touch for a cute product.
Does Social Networking Work? Ford Thinks it Does
The headline of new release from Ford caught my attention: “Ford uses social networking to market new fiesta; brand awareness skyrockets.” Continuing, one could feel the excitement as the Blue Oval brand announced 50,000 potential customers, 97% of them new to Ford were captured in Ford’s Fiesta Movement..”
First, what is social networking anyway? Think Twitter, Facebook, Linkedin, Flickr and similar sites as the developers, advocates and proponents. . Social networking sites, says Ford, allows it to meet consumers it might not connect with through traditional advertising, making it easier to open dialogue with a whole new set of consumers.
The Fiesta Movement promotes Ford’s new small car through 100 socially vibrant “agents” who have been driving Euro-spec Fiestas and taking part in monthly themed “missions” such as volunteerism, adventure, and style and design. After each mission wraps, the agents relate their experiences through the realm of social media.
The results of this Fiesta Movement program related content are impressive:
More than 4.3 million YouTube views
More than 540,000 Flickr views
More than 3 million Twitter impressions
The test drive program garnered more than 162,000 customers who have interacted with the Fiesta through walk-arounds and social interactions and 35,000 have taken a test drive.
Those may be the facts, but frankly I still don’t understand any aspect of social networking, do you?
Race Of New Range Rover Sport Versus Old Range Rover Sport at 100 mph
To demonstrate the power of the new 2010 models the iconic Brit brand, now owned by Tata ran a special race of the 2009 and 2010 Range Rovers. You’ll be surprised at the outcome of this race straight from the Top Gear mode. Click here… and stand back.
Taking The Air Out Of Pollution.
In celebration of World Car Free Day on last September 22nd, LewLara/TBWA, a Brazilian advertising agency, created this metaphorical outdoor installation and a series of print ads for the Akatu Institute for Conscious Consumption illustrating the effect of pollution on the environment. The installation title reads “More cars, less clean air,” and is part of a larger “More is Less” campaign to make consumers more aware of their own power to change the environment.
Click here to see this odd but interesting campaign.